Stokes is a former chairman of Seven Group, a conglomerate with interests in industrial equipment, gas production and media. The Sydney-based company had revenue of A$10.7 billion ($7 billion) in the year to June 30, 2025. It's Seven West Media subsidiary controls television, magazine and newspaper assets in Australia.
The majority of Stokes' fortune is derived from his stake in Seven Group, a publicly traded conglomerate in Australia.
Stokes has a 51% stake directly and through holdings companies North Aston and Wroxby, according to Seven Group's 2025 annual report.
Almost all of his shares in Seven West Media, another publicly traded company, are held via Network Investment Holdings, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Seven Group. These shares are excluded from the analysis to avoid double counting.
The valuation of his cash and other assets is based on an analysis of insider transactions, dividends, taxes and market performance.
Stokes was born on Sept. 13, 1940. He was adopted and raised by Matthew and Irene Stokes in a poor area in Melbourne before leaving school at 14 and moving to Perth, on Australia's west coast.
His first job was installing television antennas and he found success in property development in the 1960s.
The first media company Stokes acquired was a small regional television network south of Perth. His acquisition of Seven's local television stations began in 1979.
Stokes bought Wigmores, a heavy equipment provider that was later renamed WesTrac, in 1988. The company had a partnership with Caterpillar in the US, which led to Stokes acquiring additional Caterpillar dealerships in Australia and China.
Seven Network, the operator of television stations in Australia's biggest markets, became publicly traded in 1993. By 1996, Stokes had acquired a 19.9% stake and become it's chairman.
WesTrac and Seven Network merged in 2010 in a deal worth about A$2 billion ($1.8 billion). A year later, Seven Group completed it's takeover of Australia's largest equipment rental company, Coates Hire.
The group sold it's WesTrac assets in China for about A$540 million in 2017 and became a substantial shareholder in Australian construction materials maker Boral in 2020.
Stokes has been married four times and has four children. One of his children, Ryan Stokes, was appointed chief executive of Seven Group in 2015.